Kids Craft Blog by PlaidOnline.com - Monday, August 22, 2011

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Kids Crafts is full of fun, crafty projects, awesome activities, bright ideas, links to great kid-friendly sites and more, brought to you by Plaid.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday Funday: Make This Cute Pet Frame

By: Ariel C. Brodnax

Have your kids show some appreciation for the family cat, by having them make this creative pet frame. This is a beginner project that can take up to 2 hours to complete.

Plaid Supplies Used:

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint - 20216 Fuchsia

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint - 20513 Bright Yellow

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint - 20740 Parakeet

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint - 20504 Black

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint - 20503 White

Plaid Memory Frame 4" x 6" - 96286

Other Supplies Used:

Chenille pom-poms 1/4" - hot pink, Chenille pom-poms 1/4" - lime green, Chenille stems 6mm x 12" - black, White felt, Ribbon - your choice, Black paint marker, Hot glue gun, Foam paintbrush, Thin permanent black marker, White cardstock, and Glue

Project Instructions:

1. Sand the entire picture frame lightly using the foam nail file.

2. Apply two coats of Fuchsia to picture frame, allowing frame to dry twenty minutes between coats. Apply two coats of Black to picture frame easel back, allowing to dry twenty minutes between coats.

3. Cut out templates (either cat or dog). Lay out ear templates on white felt and trace around each template using the black marker. (Note: Ear templates are mirror images, so trace one ear, flip over, and trace the second ear.). Apply Fuchsia to back of ears (side without the trace marks) and allow to dry. (Note: Paint will bleed through to front of felt templates. This is okay.) (Step 3 photo.)

4. Apply one coat of White to front of each ear template to cover the Fuchsia paint bleed through. Allow to dry.

5. Apply one coat of Parakeet over White paint to front of each ear template and allow to dry. Cut out each ear.

6. Cut white cardstock in half and glue together. Transfer corresponding cat or dog collar tag to white cardstock. Allow to dry.

7. Cut out collar tag and paint Parakeet. Allow to dry. Write pet's name on tag using thin black marker.

8. Tape off bottom of picture frame as shown and paint Black. Remove tape. Mark whiskers on either side of the frame using the black marker for cat picture frame. Randomly paint polka dots using a 1/4" spouncer in Bright Yellow and Parakeet as shown.

9. Outline polka dots using the black paint marker. Adhere chenille pom-poms using the hot glue gun.

10. For cat ears, fold slightly in the middle of the ear and fold across the bottom as shown in the photo. Adhere the ears to the top of the picture frame using the hot glue gun. Add chenille pom-poms to the outside edges of the ears.

11. Adhere ribbon around the edge of the picture frame using the hot glue gun. Adhere ribbon across the bottom, lining up with the edge of the Black paint, to create the ribbon collar. Adhere small piece of ribbon to the collar tag to hang from the collar using the hot glue gun. Adhere to collar and cover with a small bow. Lastly, twist chenille stems as desired and adhere to picture frame at whisker marks. Adhere one pom-pom to the end of each whisker using the hot glue gun.

Posted in: Apple-Barrel | Monday Funday | room-decorating

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Friday, August 19, 2011

Freelance Friday: Back to School Teacher's Gift

So it's back to school time, and many kids want to start the school year off on the right track. What better way to impress your teacher, then by giving her a small token of appreciation. Check out this very cute teacher's gift craft we found on Giggles Galore. This type of teacher's gift can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used to welcome a new teacher at the beginning of the school year, or it could be given to a teacher as a thank you gift at the end of the year.

To learn how to make this great project click here. I would suggest using some of Plaid's Chalkboard paint in Black #2517, and some Apple Barrel paint in Bright Yellow #20513.

Posted in: Apple-Barrel | Chalkboard-Paint | Freelance-Friday | school-crafting

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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Teaching Thursdays: Dorm Decor

By: Candie Cooper (See more by Candie on her blog, Candie Cooper's Journal)

This morning I was listening to a story about the movie, "American Grafitti" on NPR. American Graffiti is about kids living in a small town one more summer before shipping out to college. My story is pretty much the same, except I didn't race cars at the end. It seemed like it took forever for orientation day to come. I also remember picking out things like a twin size comforter, crates, a futon and shower caddy for my dorm at Purdue. If you have someone heading to college this year, this is a great send-off gifty for the recent grad. They are stackable nesting boxes that can be tucked anywhere and hold everything from chewing gum and shots of espresso to flashcards (at least that's what mine would've held).

These are the boxes---see how they fit together so cute?

Pick out the die cuts and lay them out in the boxes. It helps to take a picture before painting so you can see how you arranged them when it comes time to Mod Podge.

Base coat the boxes in whatever colors you like---school colors would be fun too! If you look at the brushes above, you'll see a flat, angled and then another flat paint brush. The angled brush is key for getting into corners. I used Apple Barrel paints for this project because they are a little thinner than Folk Art. The boxes soaked up the paints and dried really fast.

Dry brushing is my favorite surface painting technique. It's easy and looks cool when done. Try some Silver Anniversary Folk Art paint for this step. My mom actually painted while I took pictures. Insert me saying, "now, hold still"....."ok, hold still"...."i REALLY need you to hold still." We have fun. She's the queen painter in the family.

The key to dry brushing is using a really coarse haired brush, dipping it in paint and removing most of the paint off to the side. Soft bristle brushes don't work. Run the brush along your wood surface in whichever direction you like. You can always practice on a scrap surface first.

Use Mod Podge gloss to adhere all the die cuts---this is where the photo that you took earlier comes in handy to figure out placement. Photos or school mascot bumper stickers would also be great embellishments.

Now you'll need the small and large flat brushes (see photo above) to make some stripes around the top of the boxes. The inner and very outer boxes get tiny stripes and the middle large stripes. This looks really cool when they're all together.

A tip for making stripes is to have your brush fully loaded with paint to create really solid stripes. Less paint makes for brushier stripes.

Seal all of the boxes with Folk Art Gloss acrylic varnish. This makes everything look nice and finished. Let's take a look at all the boxes....

As usual, I want a set of these for holding instant coffee and teas, tubes of seed beads and lip gloss. Looking at that list, I still feel a bit young at heart.

Wishing you a great back to school season, I am...Candie

Posted in: Apple-Barrel | Mod-Podge | school-crafting | Teaching Thursday | tweens

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